Pack a Healthier Lunch: Pear & Seed Chicken Salad #GlutenFree #Top8Free #USAPears #Giveaway

Day 3 of our Pack a Healthier Lunch week & Giveaway thanks to Pacific Foods, USA Pears, Franz Bakery, & ECOlunchboxes!
One thing we love packing for lunches are salads. I'm very blessed that my Little Miss loves a salad as much as I do (so long as I don't pack them every day for her, lol). This began by setting an example - I would eat mine and "ooo" and "ahh" over how good it was, all the vitamins I was getting, etc. 
She eventually became curious and wanted to try for herself. Guess what? She loved it. At that time, she actually preferred spinach salads over romaine but will now eat both. I usually mix her greens when I make them now. 
I, too, pack salads frequently for work. I don't want to eat the same one every.single.day so it's good to mix it up with new toppings and variety. That's where today's lunch idea comes in! A yummy Pear & Seed Chicken Salad packed in our ECOlunchbox cube. 

Pack a Healthier Lunch: Oatmeal Pear Protein Smoothie #GlutenFree #AllergyFriendly #PacificFoods

Welcome to Day 2 of our Pack a Healthier Lunch week thanks to Pacific Foods!
In case you missed yesterday's post, we kicked off the week by starting a giveaway and including a yummy recipe for gluten free & allergy friendly Tomato Soup Carrot Muffins. Be sure to check it out!
Today's recipe is one of my favorites: A smoothie! I make myself a smoothie almost every single day. Sometimes I make them fresh in the morning and drink them on the way to work. Other times I make a big batch ahead and freeze them in plastic freezable jars so that they're perfect by lunch.
That's what's so great about our recipe today - Enjoy it fresh for breakfast or make it ahead and freeze for lunches! Filled with protein and fresh fruit, it's sure to be a hit with your family!

Lunch Made Easy: Mommy & Me @CrunchAColor Lunches

I was honored to be asked again to participate in the Crunch A Color™ Healthy Lunch Challenge! 
Little Miss really enjoyed it the last time around, after we put ourselves to the challenge for a weeks worth of school lunches. 
Our Chicken Salad Stuffed Brussels Sprouts earned us one of the winning spots and a feature in the Huffington Post and on Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution website! How cool is that!? 
I always reiterate the importance of packing healthy lunches for Mom & Dad, not just the kids. So this week, I decided to get involved in the challenge right along with Little Miss. Packing a weeks worth of school and work lunches, trying to follow the Crunch A Color formula: At least 3 Colors, Healthy Grain, and Protein. 

Just because you're trying to keep up with food allergies or avoiding gluten, doesn't mean you can't still pack fresh & healthy school lunches!

Lunch Made Easy: Zesty BBQ Chicken Leftovers

Before I left for work this morning, I had thrown a rotisserie (uncooked) chicken into the crock pot and covered it in an entire bottle of Zesty BBQ Wing sauce. Mmm... we enjoyed it tonight for dinner with steamed veggies. It was delicious! So much so, Little Miss ate three helpings... AND requested some in her lunch! :) 

Lunch Made Easy: Colorful Hearts

Last lunch of the week for us :) Make sure you check back over the next week, I'm going to have some great autoposts setup featuring some of my favorite bento bloggers and their work!!

Lunch Made Easy: Luvin' Lunch

Thursday's lunch is a whole lotta LUV and a whole lotta LUNCH in one fantastic EasyLunchboxes container.

Lunch Made Easy: Hello Kitty and Other Yummy Stuff

I realized Hello Kitty hadn't made a lunch box appearance in quite some time. She was overdue since she's on the top of "things Little Miss loves" list.